How To Be Happy By Focusing On The Aspects You Control

Not happy? It’s okay to blame your parents. But only for their genes. Everything else, it seems, is up to you. In analyzing how to be happy, we examined data from diverse areas of psychological and quality-of-life research. We found that while our pre-determined genetic makeup does play a role in influencing our happiness, it’s only a part of the bigger picture.

What determines one individual’s personal happiness is certainly different from what determines another’s, but there are many aspects of life that merit a second look. We hope this visual snapshot of happiness brings a smile to your face.

Special thanks to the following authorities in the field, whose direct input and feedback were invaluable in creating this piece:

50% Genetics

40% Attitudes + Actions

10% Life Circumstances

Relationships, health, wealth, and work

So, where’s our happiness wiring?

In short: All over.

Scientists now believe that the brain’s pleasure receptors operate like a communication web.

Happiness is linked to pleasure, and the brain’s interpretation of pleasure is a complex mixture of desire, anticipation, satisfaction, and everything in between – processes not easily reducible to cells and chemicals.

Workplace

Whatever profession you’re in, small changes make work a happier place:

* Lend a helping hand
* Strive to find meaning in work
* Keep a future-oriented perspective
* Get enough sleep
* Take vacations
* Eat lunch with co-workers
* Recognize the contributions of others
* Celebrate success
* People who have plants at their workplaces are happier than those who don’t.

Great experiences become entrenched in our memory, so the joy lasts much longer.

Friends and Family

The #1 happiness booster is spending time with close friends and family.

People experience the best moods when socializing with loved ones.

Universally, a sense of community, strong relationships, and frequent community celebrations are among the greatest happiness triggers. This explains all of our Christmas dinners, birthday bashes, Sunday potlucks, and keg parties.

Playing with kids brings more positive vibes than almost any other common activity.

Meditation and Walks
Taking time to cleanse the mind, showing gratitude for simple things like breathing, the sounds around you etc.

Generosity

Donating precious time or money is not a waste of either.

$5
It has been shown that spending $5 on others rather than on ourselves makes us happier.

Spending on others while sharing the moment together results in the happiest feelings of all.

“People who donate money to charity are happier in poor and rich countries alike. You don’t have to have a lot to experience the emotional benefits of giving.”
– Dr. Elizabeth Dunn, Professor of Psychology, University of British Columbia

Your Living Space

A beautiful house increases satisfaction in the house itself, but does little to improve overall life happiness. However, its distance from work makes a huge difference in happiness because of the commute.

Congestion is a happiness killer. Taking a less congested but slightly longer route can help.

If shortening your drive isn’t an option, changing your perspective can combat the negative effects of a long commute.

* Leave work issues behind.
* Use the time as an opportunity to create a mental shift between work and home.
* Consider the time as a break from commitments and responsibilities.
* Do something fun. Listening to music, enjoying the scenery, or simply being alone with your thoughts may help you view the commute as leisure time.
* Managing to fit some physical activity into your day helps with a long commute, even if it’s a simple walk during lunch.

Laughing releases happy chemicals including dopamine, a neurotransmitter that plays a role in feelings of pleasure and happiness

12% increase in mental performance
In experiments where people watched a funny film: Participants immediately performed 12% better at mentally challenging tasks, compared to those who watched a neutral film and those who watched no film at all.

It will get better

A study by the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences shows that happiness is not a downhill slide after college, but a U-curve.

At graduation and the start of young adulthood, people are generally pretty happy. That’s before the disillusionment of life sets in.

Slowly, nagging spouses, whiny children, and unmerciful bosses bring us down until we round the bend around middle age.

Then things start looking up, psychologically. Mature people have better control of their emotions, better at solving conflicts, and less likely to pass judgment. In a sense, they are better at knowing how to be happy.

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